When Kevin Garnett was traded to the Celtics, we all imagined the hypothetical Finals series between Boston and San Antonio and would it would mean for the legacies of KG and Tim Duncan. Two of the game’s five greatest power forwards came up in the same era, but because KG’s supporting cast was consistently so much worse than Duncan’s, we never got a real look at what would happen if they met on a really big stage. And even after KG got to Boston, those big-time matchups never seemed to materialize due to injuries and what-not. Last night we finally got to see what a Celtics/Spurs NBA Finals might feel like — and neither KG or TD was even the best power forward on the court … Granted, it’s easy to catch Earl Boykins Syndrome when it comes to DeJuan Blair: He’s such a feel-good story who you want to succeed, he can put up eight points and five boards and it feels like he posted 20 and 10. But last night the kid was seriously playing out of his mind. While the Celtics had the lead from start to finish, Blair (18 pts, 11 rebs) was the main reason San Antonio was able to keep it close right down to the end. Blair scored eight straight during a fourth-quarter run that might have won the game for the Spurs had Richard Jefferson or Roger Mason been able to make anything … As for KG and Duncan, they played something like a throwback game. Garnett (20 pts, 7 rebs, 5 asts) was showing range on his jumper and getting elevation on alley-oops, while Duncan (16 pts, 15 rebs) was scoring off the dribble (seriously) and blocking shots when he was the only guy back on a 2-on-1 break. Late in the third, Garnett caught a lob over two defenders and laid it in for an and-one. KG sat on the floor and pounded his chest so hard it would have killed Aaron Brooks, yelling something like, “That’s it, motherf***er!!” … What was Blair doing “guarding” Rasheed Wallace by giving him 12 feet of open space with ‘Sheed at the three-point line? It wasn’t just once; Blair did it like 3-4 times. After banging one trey, ‘Sheed told the rookie he can’t leave him open like that, only his version involved more cussing … Your weekly gem from Reggie Miller: He talked about the Spurs “three main stars,” then listed Duncan, Tony Parker and Jefferson. Would RJ even rank himself ahead of Manu Ginobili? … Hopefully you got to enjoy the glorious few minutes where Matt Bonner and Brian Scalabrine were guarding each other. It was like Face/Off 2K10 edited for ABC Family … D-Wade‘s stat line (25 pts, 10 rebs) didn’t even convey how much he struggled against the Nuggets and how thoroughly the Heat got their butts kicked. Wade had never won a game in Denver in his pro career before last night, and the streak continued as he couldn’t buy a jumper and had Arron Afflalo in his shirt all night … You might have noticed Carmelo (22 pts) run immediately from the court to the locker room when George Karl took him out in the fourth. Asked about it post-game, ‘Melo said, “I’ve got Kaopectate in my hand. You guys do the math.” Tee-Em-Eye … Against the one team (Houston) that doesn’t have a big man for whom you could pencil in a career night, the Warriors still lost in Nellie‘s return to the bench. Undersized as they want to be, though, the Rockets all looked like they’d just graduated from Dikembe Mutombo Academy, blocking 13 shots in the game. Shane Battier had six blocks, Carl Landry swatted three to go with 22 points and nine boards, and 6-foot-nothin’ Kyle Lowry had maybe the block of the year when he tracked down C.J. Watson and volleyballed his layup from the rim to the frank man … Lowry and Anthony Morrow traded clutch buckets in the final minute, then Brooks (25 pts, 7 asts) hit the free throws with two seconds left that won it … Although they looked kind of high school-ish, the Warriors’ yellow “San Francisco” unis weren’t bad … Did you see the finish of Texas Tech vs. Washington? Tied up with four seconds left, Elston Turner Jr. (son of the Rockets assistant) bricked two free throws for UW, and Mike Singletary (no relation to the football coach) took it end-to-end and hit a running three at the buzzer. Tech’s crowd lost their collective mind and stormed the court, and even Bob Knight cracked a smile up in the luxury box. HOWEVER, the refs looked at the shot again, and after a long review, determined Singletary hadn’t gotten it off in time. They had to clear the court and re-buff the floor to play overtime, in which Texas Tech won and the crowd was able to storm the court again … We’re out like Veal vs. Red Rocket …

I’m Shawn Kemp’s #1 fan and I’ll admit that K.G. “did more with less” on his teams, and perhaps had a slightly better all-around game, but straight up — I’d take Shawn Kemp over him as well. K.G. is still legit, though.

12.04.09 at 5:23 am

quest???

i thought the world was going to end 2012 style when veal and the red rocket guarded each other. I would like to ask them if it was like looking into a mirror.

12.04.09 at 6:01 am

h-bee

Bad game for the spurs: too many turnovers, bad FT shooting! very frustrating (Dejuan Blair was the only bright spot)

And down the line, Pop set a great inbound play only for Finley to step out of bounds close to the 3pt line.

As much as I would like to believe that they will start playing better after the all star break, it seems obvious to me they cannot compete at the highest level and they will NOT make it to the western conference finals.

Call Jefferson a bust?

12.04.09 at 6:59 am

GURU

Its not the BIG 3, is just a bunch of good players,some of them overated…

RALLEN isnt the best shooter like most of the media says, he is one of the most overated shooters in the league, most of the times that he is alone fans dont know if he`s gonna score (he isnt a KAPONO type of shooter),S.NASH is way way better shooter than him just look at both 3pt% carrer average, no competition, RALLEN is the type of shooter who can end games with 3/11 and missing 6 in a row…i have seen him ending games with 1/7 a lot of times…

OVERATED (Thanks to AIR JORDAN BRAND), PPIECE/AWALKER/SMARBURY/CMOBLEY/QRICHARDSON these are all losers who are overated.
when they play their teams go down and became losing teams…

12.04.09 at 7:22 am

Josh Tha roc

I dont get the melo hand thing??

12.04.09 at 7:51 am

rangerjohn

reggie miller in his infinite wisdom, was talking about the KG/DUNCAN “battles” over the years, and he started it with, “back in the mid 1990’s when i was with the pacers, i remember kg and duncan going at it, duncan had all that hardware so he got the better of the battles”. does reggie not realize that duncan wasnt even drafted until 1997?

last nights game was TERRIBLE for the spurs, and yet they where in the game at the end. they played possibly the worst game yet (considering setting a new mark on turnovers, and shooting .417 from FT plus .125 from 3) and yet they where within 4 when the “lets hope they miss em” started. that finley 3 would have won us the game (yes i know they where still down had it counted but the momentum had shifted hugely to the spurs and the celtics could do nothing about it) instead it took the wind from the spurs sails. RJ looks lost, he is not used to being so far down the totem pole, he better get used to it before he gets set as the 8th option behind bonner.

the only big ???? is why the hell was mason in there and manu was out that deep in the 4th? pop brain farted or was he just playing around?

12.04.09 at 7:56 am

92021SpurMD

@ h-bee, you’re giving up on them? Really? Read your argument again. Had the Spurs turned the ball over only half the times they did, and say Fin doesn’t step out, do you not think that the W goes to SA? Honestly, the only bright spot was Blair, yet SA had chances to win it, think about your logic. SA will be there, Pop is just finding out who he can trust. I don’t see Mason being off all season, but RJ needs to step up. You can’t miss multiple point blank shots and expect to win, good call by dime.

12.04.09 at 8:00 am

92021SpurMD

@ Ranger, i’m with you man, except I can understand Mason being in, the man can make a bucket anytime. I was wondering why RJ was in there over Manu, dude was off ALL NIGHT, missing bunnies, and Manu had been getting to the hole and making shots, redemptively, if that word makes any sense. Like I said, maybe Pop was finding out who he can trust. He’s definitely got odd logic.

12.04.09 at 8:16 am

rangerjohn

i dont know 92021, mason was 0-3 and is barely shooting 31% this season from 3, and about 40% over all. to be honest i would have liked to see manu in for mason and bonner in for RJ all things considered. so you have tony, manu, bonner, blair and duncan. that gives you the penetration (manu/tony) the 3 point shooters (manu/bonner even though neither was shooting well) and the rebounding (duncan/blair) that was last nights best line up i think.

12.04.09 at 8:26 am

Spliff 2 My Lou

It was hard to know who to root for when the two teams I can’t stand (Boston and San Antonio) faced off so I just rooted for Blair. I hope he keeps sticking it to all the teams who passed him up.

No joke, I was watching either the UW v. Texas Tech or maybe it was Oregon v. OSU football game and turned to the Spurs v. Celts game. The first thing I saw was Bonner trying to take Scal off the dribble. I thought my TiVo was broken and stuck on slow motion.

“Hopefully you got to enjoy the glorious few minutes where Matt Bonner and Brian Scalabrine were guarding each other. It was like Face/Off 2K10 edited for ABC Family” — That’s why I love you guys!!

For a second it looked like Rondo might’ve fixed that broke azz jumper when he pulled up for one top of the 1st q, SWOOSH….then reality set in and missed his next 3 joints.

Guess that explains his drives to the cup ALL GAME.
Props to Rondo with a 12/12 double-double, points/dimes.

Why was Bogans starting? Huh? What the f*** is goin’ on??

Please post the Lowry joint. PLEEZE!?!

Parting Shots:
To Dime Writer LUCAS –}} Brooks is gonna transform you into a CROW MUNCHER!

To JOSH THA ROC –} think ‘non-stop number 2′

12.04.09 at 8:49 am

yymi

Kaopectate, known medically as bismuth subsalicylate, is an orally taken medication from Chattem, Inc. for the treatment of mild diarrhoea. It is also sometimes used to treat indigestion, nausea and stomach ulcers. SOOOOOOO YEEEAAAH YOU GET THE PICTURE

12.04.09 at 8:55 am

92021SpurMD

apparently Melo has the runs, mud-butt, diarrhea cha cha cha

12.04.09 at 8:58 am

Phileus

To the kids that don’t get the ‘Melo thing… Kaopectate is diarrhea medicine. Do you thikn that might be related to Melo running to the locker room after getting taken out of the game? HEhe

12.04.09 at 9:07 am

Ian

No manu in crunch time spurs don’t win period. I was watching the game with a friend that can’t even name two players and even he asked where the fuck is the crazy bald dude at?

12.04.09 at 9:10 am

Chicagorilla

I hate the bulls for not drafting Dujaun Blair. I have to look at that bastard James Johnson riding the pine and also Taj Gibson STARTING instead of Blair and his attitude or motor for winning/rebounding. F^king idiots.

12.04.09 at 9:12 am

Kermit The Washington

@ Josh and Scoopa:

Kaopectate is for when you got the runs

12.04.09 at 10:02 am

Soopa

Thx to the peeps clarifying the Melo-thing! I get it now and got a good laugh out of it! lol

12.04.09 at 10:33 am

sh!tfaced

Kemp over KG, Kapono over Ray Allen??? What the f*ckin f*ck, man??!!

It’s still ain’t the weekend and drunk comments are already posted…

12.04.09 at 10:37 am

sh!tfaced

“Face/Off” LOL. Good one, DIME!!!

As hilarious as the match up is. We all could live with the Bonner over Scal who’s better segment.

12.04.09 at 10:53 am

That's what's up

Carmelo has mud butt – hahaha

Damn that’s funny.

What ain’t funny is how horrible the Spurs look right now. Don’t get me wrong, they usually suck early every season, but they just don’t look right in a new way. They are scaring me.

12.04.09 at 11:22 am

92021SpurMD

When you have 5 new people who get reasonable PT who have to learn the complex offensive and defensive system that Pop runs, you’re not gonna look right for a while. Honestly people, they don’t look right and yet all they really need to do is make shots. To me, just sounds like the inevitable waiting to happen. And sooner than everyone thinks.

12.04.09 at 11:37 am

h-bee

@92021, yep I hear you – the game was close down the line despite a bad game from the spurs
but the fact is they didnt deliver yesterday in front of a contender

I guess I’m just not used to seeing the spurs not finding their marks and not executing given they’ve had the same players for so many years until now

12.04.09 at 1:08 pm

Kudabeen

Absolutely love Kemp, but Kemp over KG?? And we are letting this ride? I guess I’ve been out of the loop too long…

Kemp was a very explosive and savvy scorer at the 4, but KG was more dynamic. His passing and Defense separates him from most. If he plays long enough he will top Malone in my mind. Can’t over emphasize the defensive attributes KG has been bringing. He can guard all 5 positions and lead the zone. At 6’11 that is incredible.

Now what Kemp could have been if he left the drug, alcohol and Twinkies alone…maybe an argument, but what he ended up being doesn’t compare.

“Sheed told the rookie he can’t leave him open like that, only his version involved more cussing”

lol.. that was a good one too.. good SMACK..

12.04.09 at 3:07 pm

LakeShow84

And as much as i hate KG now that hes a Celt i cant help but love his game when hes on..

Dude is a beast at times..

12.04.09 at 3:35 pm

Bron42 aka Had Springs before slamball

Kemp over kg? Comments like that are why I stopped comin to this site for a while. Kemps game was basicLly just dunking kg is way more well rounded and completely turned the celtics into the steelers on defense when neither pierce or Allen have defense guys. And ya your right Ray Allen isn’t like kapono. Kapono has to be wide open feet set to do ANYthing. That’s like saying Kyle korver is better than Reggie miller.

12.04.09 at 4:04 pm

BiG ShoT BoB

“Garnett caught a lob over two defenders and laid it in for an and-one. KG sat on the floor and pounded his chest so hard it would have killed Aaron Brooks, yelling something like, “That’s it, motherf***er!!” …”